New Delhi, March 28 (Inditop.com) The Congress reacted cautiously to the controversy over removal of actor Abhishek Bachchan’s posters and his video message at an Earth Day function attended by Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, saying it was for the organisers to reply to queries.
“It for the organisers to answer queries,” Congress spokesman Shakeel Ahmed told Inditop.
Megastar Amitabh Bachchan didn’t hide his disappointment over his son Abhishek’s video message on Earth Hour not being shown at the event here, saying he wondered if there “is a pattern in all this?”.
The latest controversy came within days of the Congress justifying protest of its Mumbai leaders over Amitabh’s presence at the Bandra-Worli Sea Link extension’s inauguration after he accepted Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s invitation to be the brand ambassador for the state.
The Bollywood star posted on his blog scanned copies of the official invite he received for the event, after Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan denied that he had invited the superstar. Bachchan said he was invited by a minister.
Chavan, who was to attend a Marathi literary conference in Pune, changed his programme and visited it a day earlier reportedly to avoid the actor, Bachchan said in his blog.
Asked about Chavan rearranging his visit to the literary conference in Pune, Ahmed said any such query should be posed to the Maharahtra chief minister.
Replying to query about the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accusing the Congress of practising untouchability with Bachchan, Ahmed said that the saffron party had “a Congress-phobia”.
“They see the Congress’ hand in every issue,” Ahmed said, adding that the BJP criticises his party even for Special Investigation Team questioning (Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra) Modi regarding 2002 Gujarat riots.
Bachchan said on his blog that an audio-visual message was prepared with Abhishek, who was appointed the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) ambassador for Earth Hour, where he sought a pledge towards preservation of the Earth and requesting people to switch off their lights for an hour.
He said that Chie Minister Sheila Dikshit attended the event but a few hours before the show was to start, the audio-visual featuring Abhishek was apparently asked to be dropped from the programme and posters bearing his photograph as WWF ambassador were removed.
rounak